This financial modelling case study describes the development of the 3-statement financial model for a large-scale transportation infrastructure business dealing with truck (and some rail) modalities. The financial modelling challenges in this area, especially for large-scale transport infrastructure operators, lie in automatically linking the operating activity volumes with the investment volumes. The aim of the paper is to address these challenges: The proposed model has an innovative retirement/reinvestment schedule that automates the estimation of the investment needs for the Business based on the designated age-cohort matrix analysis and controlling for the maximum service ceiling for trucks as well as the possibility of truck retirements due to the reduced scope of tracking operations in the future. The investment schedule thus automated has a few calibrating parameters that help match it to the current stock of trucks/rolling stock in the fleet, making it to be a flexible tool in financial modelling for diverse transport infrastructure enterprises employing truck, bus and/or rail fleets for the carriage of bulk cargo quantifiable by weight (or fare-paying passengers) on a network of set, but modifiable, routes.

The objective of the research is twofold. The study examines the role of public finance in promoting sustainable development in SSA. Secondly, the study investigates the optimal level of public finance beyond which public finance crowds out investment and hinders sustainable development in SSA. The study adopts a battery of econometric techniques such as the traditional ordinary least square (OLS) estimation technique, Driscoll-Kraay covariance matrix estimator, and the dynamic panel threshold model. The study found that an increase in public debts lead to a decline in sustainable development. In contrast, the results show that increase in spending on health and education, and tax can engender sustainable development in SSA. Further, we uncover the optimal levels of public spending on health and education, and public debts that engenders sustainable development in SSA. One main implication of the findings is that governments across SSA needs to reduce public debts levels and increase public spending on health and education to within the threshold levels established in this study to aid sustainable development in SSA.

This study explores the integration of data mining, customer relationship management (CRM), and strategic management to enhance the understanding of customer behavior and drive revenue growth. The main goal is the use of application of data mining techniques in customer analytics, focusing on the Extended RFM (Recency, Frequency, Monetary Value and count day) model within the context of online retailing. The Extended RFM model enhances traditional RFM analysis by incorporating customer demographics and psychographics to segment customers more effectively based on their purchasing patterns. The study further investigates the integration of the BCG (Boston Consulting Group) matrix with the Extended RFM model to provide a strategic view of customer purchase behavior in product portfolio management. By analyzing online retail customer data, this research identifies distinct customer segments and their preferences, which can inform targeted marketing strategies and personalized customer experiences. The integration of the BCG matrix allows for a nuanced understanding of which segments are inclined to purchase from different categories such as “stars” or “cash cows,” enabling businesses to align marketing efforts with customer tendencies. The findings suggest that leveraging the Extended RFM model in conjunction with the BCG matrix can lead to increased customer satisfaction, loyalty, and informed decision-making for product development and resource allocation, thereby driving growth in the competitive online retail sector. The findings are expected to contribute to the field of Infrastructure Finance by providing actionable insights for firms to refine their strategic policies in CRM.

The interest in using project management office (PMO) services in organizations to manage their construction projects is growing in light of rising economic, technological, and social developments based on their ability to achieve organizational goals while avoiding risks. Accordingly, organizations use PMO services to manage their technical and financial project issues to periodically evaluate PMO performance and services in a scientific, practical, and measurable way to ensure successful project path via PMO. Therefore, this research aims to develop a performance evaluation system that enables organizations to follow up and evaluate the PMO performance to ensure that PMO manages the organizations’ expectations and goals successfully according to certain quality, scope, and cost. The study builds on significant findings in PMO competence indexes as evaluation matrix, which includes five basic categories with 136 indexes covering the project life cycle. The matrix was developed based on literature analysis and supplemented with experts’ interviews in construction management. The developed robust competency-based index (RCI) for directive PMO supports the organizations to conduct client satisfaction, correction, or partial/total change of the PMO’s competence flow within five construction project life cycle and process, i.e. governance, portfolio, information, execution, and contract issues.

The government’s increased cigarette tariff aims to lower smoking rates and avoid adverse impacts. This study’s goal was to offer process innovation for lowering Asian’ smoking behavior. The participants were chosen by stratified random selection from a total of 738 people residing in Pathum Thani Province, Thailand. The instrument was a questionnaire. A software programmer was used to examine descriptive and inferential statistics using EFA and one-way ANOVA techniques. A strategic framework guideline using a SWOT analysis and TOWS matrix to encourage smoking reduction was proposed. The findings revealed two components: smoking behavior change and continues smoking that were based on SWOT analysis and TOWs matrix. There were nine strategies for the excise department to consider for the adjustment of the next policy in terms of reducing the number of smokers. The practical and policy suggestions could help reduce the negative impact of the cigarette industry on public health and increase government revenue while addressing weaknesses and threats in the industry.